TAHOE CITY, Calif. – Travel back in time and walk through the restored Watson Cabin that is now open six days a week. 

After receiving a grant from the North Tahoe Community Alliance, a crew of 10 people spent two months refinishing the original floors, repairing structural needs, restoring the original bathroom, refinishing logs, repairing broken windows and more. 

The oldest log structure in the North Lake Tahoe is now safe for the public to walk through. 

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Previously, a portion of the Watson Cabin’s first floor was open twice a year, said Susan Winter, Director of North Lake Tahoe Historical Society. It was viewed through Plexiglass. 

Visitors can walk through the first floor of the Watson Cabin. It is a small living history museum and gift shop. 

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“We’re happy to share this historic building with the visitors and community of North Lake Tahoe,” Winter said. 

On display is a porcelain painted by Sarah Watson, the builder’s wife, her husband’s hat, and the Watson children’s spurs. They were known for riding their horses through downtown Tahoe City. 

The Watson Cabin is listed on the National Register for Historic Places. It was one of the first Tahoe City homes with indoor plumbing. 

The Watson Cabin is located at 560 North Lake Boulevard on a bluff overlooking Commons Beach. It has a path circling the house that boasts incredible views of Lake Tahoe. 

In 1908, it was built by Tahoe City’s first constable Robert Montgomery Watson and his youngest son, Robert Howard Watson. 

It was a wedding present in preparation for the younger Robert’s marriage to Stella Tong. Because of this, it took on the name “Honeymoon Cabin”. 

They married June 2, 1909. 

“We went all over town and serenaded the newlyweds who were entering a house full of well-wishing guests in a brand-new log house,” said Judge Vernon according to historical information at the site. “We were told that father Bob Watson had helped son Bob build what they described as a honeymoon home on the bluff.” 

The couple lived in the Honeymoon Cabin until 1947. 

They built it with local materials including hand-hewn logs chinked with cement, native stone for the fireplace and foundation, and deer horns decorating the exterior. 

Robert Montgomery Watson added horsehair to sealant to make it stronger and more effective. To make the ceiling level, he alternated the narrow and wider sides of lodge pole pines. Newspaper was used as insulation. 

Originally, the cabin had a dining room, sitting room, and kitchen on the first floor, and two bedrooms, a sewing room, and a bathroom on the second floor. 

On April 4, 1910, their daughter Mildred was born. She lived there until she left for high school and then the University of California, Berkeley. 

“Not until I was in high school did we have a telephone in the house, and did we get electricity,” according to Mildred Watson in historical information at the site. 

She also recalled, “We always had indoor plumbing. Not when they were first married, but very shortly thereafter. The house wasn’t quite finished when my parents were married, so indoor plumbing came within the next year, I guess.” 

She returned every summer. 

In 1947, the Watsons moved. Even so, Honeymoon Cabin remained an integral part of the Tahoe City community. 

From 1947 to 1976, the Watsons leased the cabin to Husky and Fern Hunt, who’s shop was well-known by collectors of Navajo rugs and Native American curios. 

Then they leased it to the Potters Wheel. 

In the 1970s, Robert and Stella’s daughter, Mildred Collins, offered the cabin to the North Lake Tahoe Historical Society. 

In 1979, the North Lake Tahoe Historical Society acquired the cabin, according to historical information at the site. 

In 1979, the North Lake Tahoe Historical Society and the Tahoe City Public Utility District purchased Watson Cabin. Then the historical society signed an 80-year lease with the utility district. 

A sign outside the cabin said, “this project is your TOT-TBID dollars at work.” 

The North Lake Tahoe Historical Society is a 501 (c)3 non-profit organization. Its mission is to preserve the cultural and historical heritage of Lake Tahoe.

It is dedicated to educating the public on the history of North Lake Tahoe and preserving this history for future generations. 

The North Lake Tahoe Historical Society is the umbrella organization to the Gatekeeper’s Museum, The Marion Steinbach Native American Basket Collection and the Watson Cabin. To donate, go to About | Gaterkeepers Museum (northtahoemuseums.org). 

Watson Cabin is open Tuesday to Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. through September.